Amateur
radio, as practiced today, did not begin until the early 1900s. The first
listing of amateur radio stations is contained in the First Annual Official
Wireless Blue Book of the Wireless Association of America in 1909. This
first radio callbook lists wireless telegraph stations in Canada and the
United States, including eighty-nine amateur radio stations.

By 1917, World
War I had put a stop to amateur radio. In the United States, Congress ordered
all amateur radio operators to cease operation and even dismantle their
equipment. These restrictions were lifted after World War I ended, and the
amateur radio service restarted on October 1, 1919.

BETWEEN
THE WARS

In 1921, a challenge
was issued by American hams to their counterparts in the United Kingdom
to receive radio contacts from across the Atlantic. Soon, many American
stations were beginning to be heard in the UK, shortly followed by a UK
amateur being heard in the US in December 1922.

November 27,
1923 marked the first transatlantic two-way contact between American amateur
Fred Schnell and French amateur Leon Deloy. Shortly after, the first two
way contact between the UK and USA was in December 1923, between London
and West Hartford, Connecticut. In the following months 17 American and
13 European amateur stations were communicating.

Within the next
year, communications between North and South America; South America and
New Zealand; North America and New Zealand; and London and New Zealand were
being made. These international Amateur contacts helped prompt the first
International Radiotelegraph Conference, held in Washington, DC, USA in
1927-28. At the conference, standard international amateur radio bands of
80/75, 40, 20 and 10 meters and radio callsign prefixes were established
by treaty.

In 1933 Robert
Moore, W6DEI, begins single-sideband voice experiments on 75 meter lower
sideband. By 1934, there were several ham stations on the air using single-sideband.

WORLD
WAR II

During the German
occupation of Poland, the priest Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, SP3RN was arrested
by the Germans. The Germans believed his amateur radio activities were somehow
involved in espionage[22] and he was transferred to Auschwitz on May 28,
1941. After some prisoners escaped in 1941, the Germans ordered that 10
prisoners be killed in retribution. Fr. Kolbe was martyred when he volunteered
to take the place of one of the condemned men. On October 10, 1982 he was
canonized by Pope John Paul II as Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Apostle of Consecration
to Mary and declared a Martyr of charity. He is considered the Patron saint
of Amateur radio operators.

Again during
World War II, as it had done during the first World War, the United States
Congress suspended all amateur radio operations. With most of the American
amateur radio operators in the armed forces at this time, the US government
created the War emergency radio service which would remain active through
1945. After the War the amateur radio service began operating again, with
many hams converting war surplus radios to amateur use.

POST
WAR ERA

In 1947 the uppermost 300
kHz segment of the world allocation of the 10 meter band from 29.700 MHz
to 30.000 MHz was taken away from amateur radio.

During the 1950s, hams helped
pioneer the use of single-sideband modulation for HF voice communication.

In 1961 the first orbital
satellite carrying amateur radio (OSCAR) was launched. Oscar I would be
the first of a series of amateur radio satellites created throughout the
world.

Ham radio enthusiasts were
instrumental in keeping U.S. Navy personnel stationed in Antarctica in
contact with loved ones back home during the International Geophysical
Year during the late 1950s.

At the 1979 World administrative
radio conference in Geneva, Switzerland, three new amateur radio bands
were established: 30 meters, 17 meters and 12 meters. Today, these three
bands are often referred to as the WARC bands by hams.

During the Falklands War
in 1982, Argentine forces seized control of the phones and radio network
on the islands and had cut off communications with London. Scottish amateur
radio operator Les Hamilton, GM3ITN was able to relay crucial information
from fellow hams Bob McLeod and Tony Pole-Evans on the islands to British
military intelligence in London, including the details of troop deployment,
bombing raids, radar bases and military activities. However, radio hams
usually avoid controversal subjects and political situations and discussions
as a part of the code of politeness of radio communications.

Major contributions to communications
in the fields of automated message systems and packet radio were made
by amateur radio operators throughout the 1980s. These computer controlled
systems were used for the first time to distribute communications during
and after disasters.

American entry-level Novice
and Technician class licensees were granted CW and SSB segments on the
10 Meter Band in 1987. The frequency ranges allocated to them are still
known today throughout much of the world as the Novice Sub Bands even
though it is no longer possible to obtain a novice class license in the
US.

Further advances in digital
communications occurred in the 1990s as Amateurs used the power of PCs
and sound cards to introduce such modes as PSK31 and began to incorporate
Digital Signal Processing and Software-defined radio into their activities.

RECENT
HISTORY

For many years, amateur
radio operators were required by international agreement to demonstrate
Morse Code proficiency in order to use frequencies below 30 MHz. In 2003
the World radiocommunications conference (WRC) met in Geneva, Switzerland,
and voted to allow member countries of the International Telecommunications
Union to eliminate Morse Code testing if they so wished . On December
15, 2006, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued
a Report and Order eliminating all Morse code testing requirements for
all American Amateur Radio License applicants, which took effect February
23, 2007.

The relaxing of Morse code
tests has also occurred in most other countries, resulting in a boosting
in the number of radio ham amateurs world-wide.

Most of Europe allows licensed
operators from other countries to obtain permits to transmit in Europe
during visits. Residential permits are available in many countries globally
whereby a valid license from one country will be honored by other countries
under international treaties.

In early 2010, only North
Korea had an absolute ban on ham radio operator licenses, although many
countries still maintain careful records of ham licensees, and limit their
activities and frequency bands and transmit power output.

Many nations have national
clubs which are good sources of licensing information. The American Radio
Relay League (www.arrl.org) Web site
has extensive information about this hobby.